Content 1. An overview of mobile application testing 2. Why is mobile application testing essential for businesses? 3. What are the features to be included in a mobile application testing checklist? 4. What are the steps involved in mobile application testing? 5. What are the differences between real device testing and virtual device testing? 6. Overview of simulators and emulators for mobile application testing 7. Benefits of leveraging simulators and emulators for mobile application testing 8. 7 Mobile application testing types 9. What are the challenges faced by testers during mobile application testing 10. Benefits of leveraging AI and RPA-based mobile app testing 11. Major mobile application testing tools 2023 12. Conclusion

Mobile app categories

Native mobile apps: These apps are designed specifically for one platform, i.e., iOS, Android, or Windows. Native apps are easy-to-use and easy to optimize.

Web apps: These apps run on web browsers of mobile devices. They can be directly used on PC browsers and do not require a separate download. Web apps can work on different mobile operating systems, such as Android, iOS, or Windows.

Hybrid mobile apps: These apps are both native and mobile web apps. Hybrid apps can be installed on devices like native apps, but they run through web browsers.

With the ever-increasing need for these mobile apps across industries, businesses should ensure that they are end-to-end tested, leveraging mobile app testing.

An overview of mobile application testing

Mobile application testing is a software testing process wherein applications designed for hand-held devices are tested for functionality, security, usability, accessibility, etc. Typically, even before the mobile app is released into the app store or play store, these apps are tested to meet all functional and non-functional requirements, business requirements, and user expectations. The main aim of mobile app testing is to improve the quality of mobile apps and deliver a great UX.

Why is mobile application testing essential for businesses?

Helps in achieving fully-functional apps:

The main aim of mobile app testing is to ensure that the app’s functionality work fine as expected. This testing method helps to improve the overall functionality of the app.

Uplifts brand image:

Mobile app testing helps deliver high-quality apps to customers. A high-quality mobile app keeps the customer engaged and increases their trust in the brand, which in turn uplifts its brand image in the market.

Improves the app UI:

During mobile app testing, testers test the product from the end-users perspective and assess the overall app experience it delivers to the user. Testers validate the user interface (UI) compatibility with various devices of varying screen sizes and ensure it is convenient and easy to use. Thus, mobile app testing helps to improve the UI of an app.

Increases user satisfaction:

Mobile app testing ensures the app meets all functional and non-functional requirements. This helps businesses deliver high-quality mobile apps to the user, which increases customer satisfaction.

Improves the overall quality of an app:

Mobile app testing helps improve the overall quality of the app by removing bugs from the apps that hamper its functionality, usability, security, and more. Hence, businesses can deliver high-quality apps to their customers by leveraging mobile app testing.

What are the features to be included in a mobile application testing checklist?

• Compatibility of an app across platforms, OS, and browsers

• Check for the compatibility of in-app features

• Graphical User Interface (GUI)

• Network compatibility

• App navigation

• Security vulnerabilities

• App performance

• App installation/uninstallation

• Memory usage

• Battery consumption

What are the steps involved in mobile application testing?

Identify the testing needs:

The first step is to identify the testing needs. Testers need to decide what is to be tested in an app and decide the scope and the test coverage.

Decide the type of testing to be performed:

Once all the testing needs are identified, testers need to identify the type of tests to be performed on the mobile apps. Various types of tests are performed on new mobile apps, including functional testing, regression testing, performance, and load testing, interruption testing, localization testing, speed testing, usability testing, security testing, accessibility testing, etc.

Create test cases and test scripts:

The next step involves creating test cases and automated test scripts. Testers should ensure that the test cases should cover all the critical areas and functionalities of an app.

Plan to automate/manually execute:

Based on the testing needs, testers need to decide whether to automate or manually execute the test. Testers need to leverage automated mobile testing tools as per testing requirements to perform mobile automation testing to quicken the releases and ensure faster time-to-market.

Track and manage the defects:

Once the testers execute all the test cases, they need to identify the issues in an app and fix them as soon as they are identified.

Lastly, testers must prepare a test execution report detailing all the pass/failed test cases, bugs identified, bugs resolved, and other remarks. The report must be shared with all stakeholders to help them make informed decisions.

However, in today’s fast-paced world, for an app to be successful in the market, it should work seamlessly on all hand-held devices available in the market. But, testing mobile apps on all possible devices is difficult for testers. Therefore, testers need to leverage a combination of real devices and virtual devices (Simulator and Emulators) for mobile app testing.

What are the differences between real device testing and virtual device testing?

Overview of simulators and emulators for mobile application testing

Benefits of leveraging simulators and emulators for mobile application testing

Allows easy download from the internet:

Simulator/emulators can be easily downloaded from the internet. This easy availability of simulators/emulators makes mobile app testing easy and convenient.

Virtualizes various devices:

Simulators/emulators allow virtualizing various devices for mobile app testing. Due to this, testers can ensure the app testing on all possible combinations and device form factors without any need for actually buying the real devices.

Reduces costs:

Simulators/Emulators allow mobile app testing at less price as compared to real devices. Since these virtual devices need no special labs for storage and maintenance, it reduces high costs compared to real device testing.

Ensures effective testing in time-bound situations:

Emulators and simulators can be used for testing in some time-bound situations where the apps are to be launched quickly. They cal also be used in situations where real devices cannot be bought, as these virtual devices mimic almost all possible combinations of real devices.

7 Mobile application testing types

Functional testing:

It is performed to verify the functionality of an application to ensure it works fine as per expectations. The various functional testing methods, including unit testing, integration testing, system testing, acceptance testing, alpha testing, and beta testing, are all performed to ensure a fully functional mobile app.

Usability testing:

A group of users are selected and given a specific task to perform on the mobile app in this testing method even before the app is released into the market. The actions performed by these users are observed and recorded by the specialists, such as QA teams, test engineers, etc. Their feedback is collected, and proper actions are taken to improve the usability of an app.

Compatibility testing:

An app should ideally work fine across all different types of devices, platforms, networks, OS, and browsers. Thus, it is important to test the app's compatibility to deliver consistent performance across all platforms.

Performance testing:

This test is performed to check the speed, responsiveness, reliability, and stability of an app under fluctuating networks, bandwidths, and user loads. The main aim of this test is to eliminate performance bottlenecks from an app. There are various types of performance testing methods, such as load testing, spike testing, endurance testing, volume testing, etc.

Security testing:

The main aim of this test is to ensure that the applications are free from all vulnerabilities and security loopholes. The different types of security tests that are conducted are vulnerability tests, penetration tests, security scanning, security auditing, etc.

Localization and globalization testing:

This testing method verifies whether the mobile app has compliance with the language and cultural aspects at the local and international levels. This test ensures that proper time zone, i.e., date & time formats, are included in the app, local currency, text, and user interface are used, and L10N and L18N standards are followed.

Digital testing:

It is a software testing type that covers the entire range of mobile app testing, which includes functionality testing, security testing, performance testing, and more. It ensures end-to-end testing of mobile apps, i.e., functional, non-functional, compliance testing, etc.

What are the challenges faced by testers during mobile application testing?

Testing different screen sizes:

The screen sizes of mobile devices vary greatly, such as an iPhone differs from android and other smartphones. Testers have to check different layouts and elements against different pixel densities, which is time-consuming.

Varying battery consumption:

Mobile apps tend to consume battery life quickly. Users often use multiple apps at a time on their mobile phones. Hence, the apps that are left open in the background drain the battery power. Testing the battery consumption for various devices under varying conditions forms another challenge for testers.

OS fragmentations:

OS fragmentation is another challenge as testers need to ensure that the app not only works on all OS like android, iOS, and windows but also across various versions of OS, like iOS 5X, iOS6X, etc.

Mobile networks:

Today’s customers need fast and high-performing mobile networks; however, testing mobile apps for different networks is quite challenging.

Changing customer requirements:

Frequently changing customer requirements is another challenge that testers face with mobile app testing.

Benefits of leveraging AI and RPA-based mobile app testing

With the rapidly enhancing technology landscape, mobile apps are getting advanced too. Therefore, it has become essential to test mobile apps leveraging advanced technologies like AI, ML, and RPA to ensure faster testing outcomes to help businesses go early to market. The usage of these advanced next-gen technologies brings many benefits:

Increases speed of automation testing:

As the app progresses, functional and regression test suites tend to become lengthy. Also, testers need to run all test cases all over again to fix a minor issue in the app. But, by leveraging technologies like AI and RPA, testers can identify the minimum number of test suites that need to be run and help identify and fix the issues in an app quickly and effectively.

Ensures easy bug identification:

AI and RPA bots can quickly check the overall app health much faster and send the overall report back to the testers. This report helps the testers be assured that the bot has visited and tested the most common paths of an application to see if there are any issues in-app. Thus, AI and RPA bots help identify the most error-prone areas in an app that can be fixed further with automated mobile testing.

Enhances the overall test coverage:

AI, ML, and RPA technologies increase the overall depth and scope of testing. These technologies can even check the data tables, memory and file contents, inner programs, and other critical areas of an app to ensure it works as expected. Thus, it enhances the overall test coverage of a mobile app.

Ensures accurate testing:

In comparison to the manual testing method, RPA bots can improve the accuracy of the test. Since RPA bots are much more accurate than humans, these bots can effectively test mobile apps without any error.

Enables scriptless test automation:

RPA bots do not require humans with great coding or scripting skills to run the test. Thus, any subject matter expert or QA with hands-on experience with RPA tools can execute scriptless mobile app testing effectively.

Saves significant costs:

Mobile apps are to be tested repetitively each time the source code is modified. Manually testing of app repetitively is not only time-consuming but costly too. But, with the help of AI and RPA, regression tests can be automated, saving overall time and costs.

Major mobile application testing tools 2023

Tricentis Tosca:

It is a continuous testing platform used to design automated, functional, end-to-end software tests. This testing tool allows codeless testing for any mobile app with the help of a simple drag/drop functionality. Tricentis Tosca allows testing of native, hybrid, and web applications on iOS and Android devices, including mobile cross-browser testing. It allows scaling mobile testing efforts by enabling testers to run tests in the local environment or execute tests in the cloud on any device, simulator, or emulator.

Appium:

It is an open-source automated testing tool for testing mobile applications. This tool supports the automation of native, hybrid, and mobile web applications built for iOS and Android. This tool makes use of vendor-provided automation frameworks and is based on server architecture. Appium released its latest version in January 2020 – Appium 1.16.0, which allows beta support for flutter, iOS simulator geolocation setting for testing, and Safari weblogs capabilities.

TestComplete:

It is one of the easy-to-use tools, and it helps in automating tests for mobile apps, desktop, and web applications. This tool provides maximum test coverage with a hybrid object and visual recognition engine. It allows scripting in various languages, like Python, JavaScript, Delphi Script, C++Script & C# Script.

Ranorex Studio:

It is an all-in-one automation testing tool, and it powers on a selenium web driver with capabilities like UI object recognition, intuitive interface, and full IDE. This tool also has a record and playback feature which helps in easy automation. Ranorex allows cross-platform testing and is used for end-to-end testing on web, desktop, mobile, and APIs.

Conclusion

The global mobile app market is rapidly growing and evolving with technology. Today, every business needs high-quality mobile apps to deliver a great UX. These mobile apps should be tested for their functionality, security, usability, accessibility, performance, etc. Therefore, businesses should leverage end-to-end mobile app testing from a next-gen QA and an independent software testing services provider to achieve high-quality mobile apps.

The post A Detailed Mobile Application Testing Guide first appeared on TestingXperts.

Mobile apps are important for today’s enterprises as they continue to be the major business enablers. It is critically important that these mobile apps should function seamlessly at all times. Typically, these mobile apps should be tested for their functionality, usability, accessibility, consistency, performance, etc. Evidently, mobile app testing plays an important role in the overall mobile app development process. Mobile app testing helps identify various types of bugs that affect the functionality, security, and reliability of apps to ensure a seamless experience (UX). It is important to note that today’s end-users access mobile apps on various devices that differ in hardware configuration, operating systems (OS), browsers, etc. Thus, testing the mobile apps on various mobile testing devices is essential before releasing them to the market.

Content 1. Broad classification of mobile testing devices 2. What are real devices? 3. What are virtual devices? 4. What are emulators? 5. What are simulators? 6. Major differences between real and virtual testing devices 7. Key differences between simulator and emulator-based testing 8. How to decide when to test on real and virtual devices? 9. Mobile testing types to be performed on real and virtual devices 10. Conclusion 11. How can TestingXperts (Tx) help?

Broad classification of mobile testing devices

Mobile apps are tested using various types of mobile testing devices by analyzing application behavior, functionality, user interface, and many other factors. As mobile devices differ by hardware configuration, OS, screen resolution, etc., it is evident that what works on one type of mobile device might not work on another mobile device. Therefore, to ensure the consistent behavior of apps on different mobile devices, it is essential to test them using various mobile device solutions. These mobile testing devices solutions are broadly classified as Real Devices and Virtual Devices

What are real devices?

Real devices are the various models of actual handsets used by the end-users. Testing teams have access to a couple of devices of different versions. To test the functioning and behavioral patterns, the mobile testing team tests the apps on a range of mobile devices such as iOS, Android, Blackberry, Tablet, iPads, etc. The results generated by real-device testing are accurate, but there is a higher cost involved with their purchase. Also, as the devices get updated from time to time and new devices are launched frequently in the market, it is difficult for testing teams to test mobile apps on all real devices. Thus, to overcome this challenge, testers use virtual devices. But, specifically, there are certain use cases where only real devices can be used for testing, including push notifications, real-time messages, GPS data, etc.

What are virtual devices?

Virtual devices are software programs that mimic an actual smartphone device’s important features and nature. These virtual devices help testers run the application and understand how an application would work on real devices. The virtual testing devices are broadly classified into emulators and simulators.

What is an emulator in mobile testing?

Emulators are software programs that create virtual devices on a computer. They are used to mimic the target device’s hardware and software on the workstation. It works on machine language that the processor understands and translates to the language used by the system through a binary translation process. The two most widely used types of emulators in mobile testing are android emulators and iOS emulators.

What are simulators in mobile testing?

Simulators are virtual testing software that can only mimic mobile devices’ software characteristics and configurations. They are made for iOS devices, i.e., iPhone and iPad. The iOS simulator mimics the iOS and runs the required application within the environment by taking charge of the computer’s operating system. But, to run the iOS simulator, testers need to work on MacOS as the iOS simulator needs Apple’s native Cocoa API, which is essential for the GUI, runtime, and many other operations. It sometimes challenges testers as they have to either work on MacBook or virtualize MacOS on their existing systems.

Major differences between real and virtual testing devices

Emulator vs. Simulator-based testing

How to decide when to test on real and virtual devices?

Real devices can be used for critical scenarios and in situations like memory leaks, high CPU usage, latency, and while having network issues that might fail when tested with virtual devices. Virtual devices can be used for testing the functionality and user interface as they give good results, and these devices are much cheaper than real devices. Moreover, these virtual devices can be set up with any configuration, and many instances can be created from them. Real devices testing comes with a cost, and automation testing on these devices requires additional effort, while cloud solutions can be used for testing as they provide numerous real devices on the cloud.

Mobile testing types to be performed on real and virtual devices

Installation testing:

This testing method involves a check on whether the application can be successfully installed, uninstalled, updated, or not. This test ensures that applications work as expected after they are installed.

Compatibility testing:

This test is performed to check the compatibility of the app on various devices varying in platforms, OS, browsers, etc. Testers use various types of real devices, emulators, and simulators to check the compatibility of an app on the maximum possible device forms.

Functional testing:

This test is performed to verify the functional aspects of an app. It ensures that the app functions well and works as expected. There are a variety of functional tests conducted on applications such as unit tests, integration tests, system tests, acceptance tests, alpha tests, beta tests, etc.

Usability testing:

The main aim of usability testing is to ensure the user-friendliness of an app. A set of end-users test the app, and their responses are recorded further to be evaluated to improve the mobile app’s usability.

Performance testing:

This test aims to eliminate performance bottlenecks from the app before it goes live, and it ensures that the application meets the performance objectives. This testing method checks the application’s speed, responsiveness, and stability under varying user loads, fluctuating networks, etc.

Security testing:

The main aim of security testing is to ensure that the application is free from vulnerabilities and security loopholes. Various types of security checks are performed in this testing method, such as vulnerability tests, penetration tests, security scanning, security auditing, etc.

Localization testing:

This testing ensures that the application meets the language and cultural requirements of a particular region. This test ensures that proper time zone, i.e., date & time formats, are included in the app, local currency, text, and user interface are used, and local regulations are included based on the geographical region.

Storage testing:

The main aim of this test is to ensure that the application’s data is stored in the right format and right directory. This testing method checks that sufficient apps are available on disk so that the app does not terminate unexpectedly.

User Interface (UI) testing:

This test aims to ensure that the application’s GUI meets all the required specifications. This test involves checking the UI of an app across various types of devices differing in screen size, resolution, etc., to ensure it provides the same UX across devices.

Conclusion

The need for high-quality mobile apps is rising, and it is essential to leverage effective mobile app testing to enable seamless UX. Testers should ensure mobile app testing using emulators, simulators, and real devices to reap the significant benfits of each mobile testing solution. Testers also need to ensure that they properly plan the test coverage, application under test, and mobile automation testing tools to maximize the benefits of mobile app testing while performing on different devices. Businesses can leverage mobile testing for flawless and reliable mobile apps from a next-gen QA and independent software testing services provider.

How can TestingXperts (Tx) help?

TestingXperts, with its advanced mobile test lab, extensive expertise in mobile testing engagements, and breadth of experience in the right mobile automation testing, ensures that the mobile testing is thorough and cost-effective. Our mobile testing Lab has 250+ physical and unlimited cloud-based devices from leading brands and the ability to test with various network carriers on 2G, 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi. Tx provides end-to-end mobile testing services, including functional, security, performance, compatibility, usability, and test automation across different devices, models, networks, operating systems, browsers, and locations.

Tx has also partnered with Sofy, the No. 1 AI-powered no-code quality automation platform, and established Tx-Device Hub powered by Sofy. This device lab contains a vast library of devices that allows QA Teams to test their apps on hundreds of devices before a release, ensuring a great user experience and the ability to release features within hours with high confidence. Get in touch with our mobile testing experts to know more.

The post An Overview of Testing on Real Devices vs. Simulators vs. Emulators first appeared on TestingXperts.

Today, mobile applications have become the primary business enablers for all industries across domains. Most businesses invest heavily in mobile apps to enable high-performing mobile apps for ensuring a great User Experience (UX). These mobile apps are the primary means for users to perform various tasks such as online shopping, reading e-books, ticket booking, medicine orders, insurance payments, etc.

Content 1. Mobile apps’ significance across industry segments 2. What is Mobile App Testing? 3. What are the different types of Mobile App Testing? 4. Benefits of Mobile App Testing for businesses 5. What are the steps involved in Mobile App Testing? 6. How to overcome Mobile App Testing challenges? 7. What are the Mobile App Testing trends to look at in 2023? 8. Conclusion

These smartphone apps provide an effective platform for businesses such as banking, education, healthcare, pharma, telemedicine, etc. Indeed, these mobile apps continue to be significant business enablers as customers can easily interact and perform transactions without any physical limitations.

Mobile apps’ significance across industry segments

Education – According to Technavio the global education apps market is expected to grow by USD 46.88 billion during 2020-2024. This growth is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the education of many students across the globe. With the help of various education apps, video conferencing tools, other e-learning apps, students continue to attend online classes worldwide.

Healthcare & Fitness – According to Grandviewresearch, the global fitness app market size was valued at USD 4.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.6% from 2021 to 2028. According to IQVIA, more than 3,18,000 health apps are available on top app stores worldwide, with more than 200 health apps getting added each day. Also, the current pandemic gave a sudden rise to health apps, wellness apps, telemedicine apps, fitness apps, health management apps, etc.

Banking and finance – According to Fortunebusinessinsights the global mobile payment market was valued at USD 1.18 trillion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 8.94 trillion by 2027, with a CAGR of 29.0% during the forecast period (2019-2027). This growth is due to the digital-savvy customers. They prefer to use mobile banking apps to check balance, pay bills, transfer money, etc.

Games and entertainment – According to Mordorintelligence, the global gaming market was valued at USD 162.32 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach a value of USD 295.63 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 10.5% over the forecast period (2021–2026). Gaming and entertainment apps are accessed by users of all age groups varying from kids, youngsters to old-age people. There are various gaming app categories such as educational, action, adventure, puzzle, quiz, etc., Essentially these gaming apps should have an excellent User Interface (UI) to keep the users engaged and glued.

Retail and shopping/m-commerce – According to Businessinsider, m-commerce volume is expected to rise at a 25.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2019 to $488.0 billion, or 44% of eCommerce, in 2024. M-commerce has the potential to become a major channel for shopping and to change consumer shopping habits. Consumers are reliant on digital devices now more than ever.

Business Insider Intelligence predicts that mobile will inch closer to becoming consumer’s preferred channel for online shopping within the next five years. The two critical devices driving the m-commerce revolution are smartphones and tablets. Today, people prefer shopping online on the go with the help of mobile apps as it helps them view a variety of products, purchase at lesser costs, place in much lesser efforts, and get the desired with more comfort.

Telecom- According to MarketsandResearch, the global telecom API market size is anticipated to reach USD 827.45 billion by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.6% from 2022 to 2030. Some of the major factors driving this market growth are 5G, digital wallets, GPS services, and near-field communication (NFC). Some of the Telecom API’s major driving factors include improving telecom API user experience, monetizing telecom operator services, rising demand for advanced telecom services over the internet, and increasing adoption of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) devices among end-users.

The above detailed mobile app statistics by leading analysts depict the importance of mobile apps for various businesses and the impounding need for effective mobile app testing to deliver high-performing and high-quality mobile apps with great UX. Indeed, mobile apps have become the new way of life for today’s customers. Therefore,  businesses should leverage mobile app testing to deliver seamless and flawless apps to customers.

What is Mobile App Testing?

It is a software testing process in which the application developed for handheld devices is end-to-end tested to check its functionality, security, performance, etc. Mobile app testing is an essential step in mobile application development, and if the software passes all the mobile tests, then only the mobile app is released into the market (App Store/Play Store).

What are the different types of Mobile App Testing?

Mobile apps should essentially deliver an unmatched user experience for users to perform various tasks effortlessly. Moreover, these apps should meet specific benchmarks of quick loading, seamless navigation, flawless performance, effective UI, etc. Businesses should leverage various types of mobile app testing techniques to get high-performing, scalable, and seamless apps.

Installation testing:

The first task that the user performs before using any app is to install the app. Therefore, it is necessary to check whether the application can be successfully installed, uninstalled, updated, or not. This software testing method ensures that the mobile apps work as expected after installation.

Storage testing:

This mobile app testing process ensures that the application’s data is stored in a suitable format and under the correct directory. It checks that sufficient app storage is available on disk so that the mobile app does not terminate unexpectedly.

Functional testing:

This testing method verifies whether all the app’s functionalities are working as specified in the design document. Some of these functional tests include installation testing, upgrade testing, GPS testing, touch testing, UI testing, connectivity testing, battery drain testing, memory testing, etc.

Performance testing:

This mobile app testing method checks the speed, responsiveness, operating capacity, scalability, and stability of the application under various workloads. The main aim of this test is to eliminate performance bottlenecks before the application goes live. This testing method also ensures that the application meets the defined performance objectives and some of these tests include load, spike, endurance, volume, etc.

Usability testing:

In this testing method, the users are given specific tasks to perform on the new application/software. The actions performed by the users are observed and recorded by the specialists such as QA teams, test engineers, etc. The test feedback is collected from the end-users with suggestions. Based on the suggestions given by user groups, necessary actions are taken up to improve the app’s usability.

Compatibility testing:

There are various devices with varying screen sizes, and users use apps on these devices under different networks. Thus, it is essential to test the app’s compatibility on various devices, platforms, OS, browsers, networks, etc.

Security testing:

This mobile app testing method verifies data integrity issues, storage issues and checks the app’s security. It also ensures that the applications are free from all vulnerabilities and security loopholes. The different security tests are vulnerability tests, penetration tests, security scanning, security auditing, etc.

Localization testing:

The main aim of this testing is to ensure that the proper date & time formats are included in the app, local currency, text, and local regulations are also included as per the region so that the app can be accessed seamlessly across the globe.

Digital testing:

This mobile app testing type covers the entire gamut of mobile app testing of both functional and non-functional testing methods, which includes security, Localization, performance, usability, accessibility, cloud testing, etc.

Accessibility testing:

With numerous users accessing mobile apps globally, it is also essential to perform accessibility testing to ensure the mobile app is accessible to people with disabilities such as colour blindness, deafness, hard-of-hearing, etc.

Benefits of Mobile App Testing for businesses

Delivers fully-functional apps:

Mobile app testing ensures that mobile apps are fully functional as per the requirements and perform seamlessly to deliver a great UX.

Enhances UI/UX:

Mobile testing allows testers to test the product from the end user’s perspective and assess the overall app experience. Testers check the logic behind the app and improve the UI of an app which ultimately enhances UX.

Improves customer satisfaction:

Mobile apps with seamless functioning and great usability deliver more excellent customer satisfaction. Such flawless apps help to increase the brand’s reputation and results in getting more loyal customers.

Delivers quicker ROI:

Mobile apps that are end-to-end tested using the latest DevOps methodology of development and test automation ensure faster releases and delivers quicker ROI with high-quality apps released to the market.

What are the steps involved in Mobile App Testing?

Identify the need and scope of the test:

• It is necessary to identify the need and scope of mobile app testing

• Prepare a testing strategy, and determine what features and functionality have to be tested

• Identify the types of mobile app testing required, such as functional, usability, compatibility, performance, security, or others

• Identify the test location; if your app has a global user base, go for localization testing that tests your app in multiple locations and languages with a worldwide network of testers using crowd testing

Plan the test:

• The next step is to determine how to test the ap

• Strategize an action plan and decide what type of tests to be conducted, who will execute the test, and at the timelines involved

• Prepare a test suite and write test cases or test scripts for automated testing

• Most QA teams prefer to integrate manual and automated testing for different stages of SDLC to releases fully functional mobile apps into the market.

Execute the test:

• Run these test cases and scripts

• The execution of the tests completely depends on test scope, test coverage, and release cadence.

• Some businesses follow the DevOps approach where the product is released daily, weekly or monthly, while some follow the agile approach where the product is released in sprints.

Track and manage bugs/defects:

• Once the tests are complete, track and manage the defects

• Prioritize the defects according to their severity level

• Log defects in the bug tracking tools such that teams know the status of bugs and can easily track them

Prepare test reports:

• Finally, review the entire testing process and prepare a test report

• The test report should state devices and OS combinations tested, bugs identified, bugs resolved, test methods used, total time taken, passed and failed test cases, release status, other recommendations, etc.

Some of the common challenges with Mobile App Testing

Testing different screen sizes:

The screen sizes of mobile devices vary greatly, such as for an iPhone differs from android and some other smartphones. Mobile apps need end-to-end testing to ensure that the apps work seamlessly on different screens. Testers have to check different layouts and elements against different pixel densities, which is a time-consuming process.

Varying battery consumption:

Mobile apps tend to consume battery life quickly. Users often use multiple apps at a time on their mobile phones. Hence, the apps that are left open in the background drain the battery power. Mobile app testers should ensure that the apps do not take much battery power even if used for extended hours or with multiple apps in the background. Testing the battery consumption for various devices under varying conditions is a tedious task but is an essential aspect of mobile apps.

Frequently changing user requirements:

Mobile apps and features are often upgraded as per the user requirements. With these frequent changes, each time, the newly detected bugs should be fixed to ensure flawless apps.

OS version fragmentation:

There are numerous versions of the operating systems available in the market. These OS versions get upgraded from time to time. OS version fragmentation is a big issue for android devices as these devices have more OS versions when compared to Apple’s iPhone. Testers have to test each combination of OS version and device to ensure that the app performs seamlessly across all OS versions.

How to overcome Mobile App Testing challenges?

Identify target base:

Testers should first identify the targeted customer base, which will help determine the most commonly used devices.  Further, testers can test these devices to ensure screen size and OS compatibility, app usability, and reliability.

Test with real devices:

To check how much battery is being consumed by the app, the best way is to test the app with real devices in combination with emulators and simulators. Since emulators and simulators test the app in a simulated and unreal environment, it is necessary to use them along with real devices.

Leverage automation:

One of the best methods of mobile apps testing is to use automation. With the help of automation, teams will identify bugs and issues faster though changes are made from time to time. However, 100% automation is not possible; therefore, a combination of manual and automation testing should be followed by testers to deliver effective results.

Test using a combination of OS and devices:

Testers need to test each combination of OS and devices to ensure that the app performs seamlessly across all OS versions to overcome OS fragmentation. The best way to do this is first to identify the most common devices and OS versions the app supports and testing them on a priority basis.

What are the commonly used Mobile Testing Tools?

Selendroid:

It is a test automation framework that is used for testing android native and hybrid applications. Selendroid tests are written using the Selenium 2 client API. It can be used on emulators, real devices and integrated into the Selenium Grid for scaling and parallel testing. This tool comes with a built-in inspector that simplifies test case development and makes it easy to use.

Appium:

It is an open-source test automation tool used for testing native and hybrid iOS. It supports various programming languages such as Ruby, C#, Java, etc., and different android versions above 2.3 use WebDriver interfaces to run the test cases.

Testdroid:

It is a cloud-based mobile app testing tool that helps the teams speed up the product delivery to the market. This tool allows the developers to save the app development costs and reduces the unexpected scenarios of unpredictable expenses. With the usage of this tool, it becomes easy and quick to test the application over android and iOS devices across different screen resolutions, OS versions, and hardware platforms.

Ranorex Studio:

It is one of the most widely used mobile app testing tools. This tool supports android and iOS, including native mobile apps and mobile web apps. This tool has a shareable object repository and reusable code modules that help with easy test creation and reduces maintenance. It easily integrates with tools like Jira, Jenkins, TestRail, Git, etc. This tool enables cross-device parallel testing and generates customizable test reports.

Eggplant:

It is a commercial GUI automation testing tool used for android and iOS app testing. This tool supports various types of testing such as functional, image-based testing, mobile testing, network testing, web testing, cross-browser testing, etc. It has built-in image and OCR recognition abilities and supports various OS such as Linux, Windows, Mac OS, etc.

SeeTest Automation:

It is one of the leading mobile automation tools that support automated mobile app testing for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone on real devices and emulators. It supports continuous testing of mobile app on a huge number of remote devices and supports parallel execution on several devices. It helps in increasing the test coverage and allows testing of device components like GPS, camera, audio, etc. It has its reporting mechanism that can contain screenshots and video recording of tests performed.

What are the Mobile App Testing trends to look at in 2023?

Automation testing to become dominant:

As enterprises continue to adopt agile and DevOps approaches, automation testing is critical for businesses. Due to the rise in demand for automation testing tools and frameworks in the upcoming years, test automation is expected to be more dominant.

Increased use of AI in testing:

Testers are using AI and ML algorithms to test mobile apps as these AI bots mimic humans and can test the app more effectively by exhibiting the same tasks as humans. With the help of AI bots, testers specifically need not design test scenarios or write a single line of code, as bots can explore the app interface and report critical bugs or errors faster than a human tester.

More focus on cloud-based testing of mobile apps:

Sometimes, it becomes hard for businesses to test mobile apps in labs on various devices, OS, and networks. Thus, it becomes convenient for testers to test the app on real devices in the cloud. Cloud devices are a better solution for manual and automated testing of mobile apps.

IoT testing to gain momentum:

With millions of connected sensors, devices, and computers worldwide, and with continuous exchange of data, these IoT devices need vigorous testing. These IoT devices need to be tested for connectivity, security, exchange of data and thus, need different types of testing such as security, performance, usability, etc.

DevOps continuous and frequent releases to lead:

Today, every business needs faster and quality releases to deliver seamless mobile apps to their customers. Enterprises can use an integrated approach wherein DevOps and agile practices will be combined together to get faster releases. Since DevOps practices include continuous integration (CI), continuous testing (CD), and continuous delivery (CD), DevOps testing helps businesses go to market faster.

Conclusion:

Mobile apps have become an essential part of our daily lives. These apps help users perform various tasks such as shopping, paying bills, booking tickets, etc. Since users access these apps on various devices with varying screen sizes, OS, and networks, businesses need to ensure that these apps perform seamlessly and are of high quality. Hence, businesses should leverage mobile app testing from next-gen QA and software testing service providers to achieve high-quality, seamless mobile apps bound to deliver more excellent customer experience.

The post Mobile App Testing – An Effective Guide for Businesses in 2023 first appeared on TestingXperts.

Content 1.  An overview of the Telecom sector 2.  Increased demand for Telecom services during the pandemic 3.  Broad types of Telecom applications and their significance 4.  Why self-service in telecom is now a top priority? 5.  Some of the pain points of telecom application users 6.  Why should telecom companies leverage software testing? 7.  Conclusion

An overview of the Telecom sector

The telecom industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The telecom sector comprises companies that make communications possible on a global scale and some of its segments are wired & wireless telecom carriers, communication hardware manufacturers, satellite telecom resellers, etc. With the evolution of technology, the telecom industry has got a major shift in the way it operates and delivers services to its customers.

Today, the telecom industry is leveraging the latest technologies to enable seamless services to the customer and continues to achieve sustainable growth in the market.  According to the Grand View Research, “The global telecom services market size was valued at USD 1.74 trillion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.0% from 2020 to 2027.” An increasing number of mobile subscribers, soaring demand for high-speed data connectivity, and growing demand for value-added managed services are the potential factors fueling its growth.

Telecoms provide a huge range of voice and data services and the most common form of telecom service is phone service which can either be wired or wireless. Other services include the internet, television, and networking for businesses and homes that are widely being used across the globe. Though the unprecedented COVID-19 has brought in some negative impact for many industries, typically the telecom industry had some positive impact with increased service demand in leaps and bounds to keep up the fast-moving world connected.

Increased demand for Telecom services during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic signalled the importance of the telecommunication industry as it helped in keeping the world connected and informed during these unprecedented times. The telecom industry helped various industries, businesses, governments, societies, and people to continue their work. The telecoms helped to keep the communication uninterrupted even in situations of complete lockdown and especially the IT employees embracing the new normal of work from home. Moreover, telecoms were exempted from major COVID-19 related restrictions as it comes under essential services.

The telecom companies continued to face a short-term spike in data traffic and the increased use of broadband services due to the work from home, and specific quarantine orders imposed by various governments. There has been a sudden over-reliance on digital services and connectivity that has been faced by the telecom industry as people were majorly working from home and relied on the internet and communication channels like video conferencing tools for conducting meetings. Data density got scattered and intensified but increased as people continued to use various types of telecom apps to keep them connected during these times.

Broad types of Telecom applications and their significance

Various types of web and mobile applications continue to provide more power to the telecom sector by increasing their brand visibility by delivering a variety of features and options to end-users. Some of the features for enabling personalized customer experience (CX) include integrations of service galleries, playing videos, delivering grand music, prompting different shopping options, raising special discounts & offers, updating billing information, displaying payment options, enabling voice chats for customer support, etc. Now, let us now take a look at various types of these telecom apps and their significance in day-to-day lives:

Retailer app:

Retailer apps help telecom companies engage with their customer, understand the customer requirements, and helps to handle customer grievances. Retailer apps can be used for running deals and offers, push notifications, inform users about telecom plans & offers, display price lists, facilitate & display product reviews, etc.

Mobile wallet:

These mobile apps help telecoms & customers with the online top-ups, manage autopay options, facilitate utility bill payments, enable instant recharges, etc. Mobile wallets are an efficient solution for telecom companies and also for customers today as it helps them to receive, send and pay money on the go seamlessly.

CRM app:

These apps serve as a one-stop solution for both telecoms and customers to access information. CRM apps help telecom employees to resolve customer problems and manage tickets/queries. It also helps to manage sales, orders, and other workflows easily.

Sales support app:

Telecom sales support apps help the sales team access quick information regarding sales policies, offers, benefits, features, products, etc. With the help of sales support apps, telecom sales teams can quickly resolve customer issues.

Field service app for technicians:

These telecom apps help field staff or technicians to monitor and test network tower conditions. It also improves the efficiency and productivity of technicians. With the help of these apps, technicians can access information quickly by connecting to the command centre for the timely help.

Signal monitoring app:

These unique telecom apps help to monitor cell tower signals on the mobile apps categorized according to regions, cities, areas, etc. Since this app provides information about the strength and quality of signals in a particular region, telecoms can make informed decisions regarding acquisitions, service improvements in areas, etc.

Vendor app:

Vendor apps help to connect with vendors such as distributors, dealers, third-party service vendors, equipment dealers, etc. Vendor apps serve as a bridge between customers and telecom companies, and also with third-party providers/dealers.

Disaster management app:

Disaster management apps help to ensure business continuity in the long run for the telecom sector. These apps come with a directory feature that includes a list of all relevant emergency contacts so that customers can get in touch with them straight from the app by simply tapping on them. Another important feature of this app is listings of existing regulations in place for emergencies which help telecom employees to know whether they are complying with the rules and helps them to take the correct action.

Customer support app:

The customer support apps help telecoms to solve customer queries and handle grievances by extending support to customers. Today, customers prefer to solve their queries themselves instead of talking to a customer representative in the first place. Therefore customer support apps contain information in the form of queries or recently asked questions or FAQs.

Data collection app:

Data collection apps help telecom employees to log data directly via application instead of the traditional way where data was logged in the spreadsheet and later transferred to the central database.

But, with the world moving towards faster connectivity with mobile apps especially for telecoms, self-service has taken a higher priority.

Why self-service in telecom is now a top priority?

Customer experience has always been a top priority for telecoms, still, many of the telecom service providers face difficulty in providing a satisfactory experience to their customers. Now, it has become important for telecoms to make sure that all the touchpoints from start to end are optimized in such a way that not only the existing customers but also the prospects should get engaged seamlessly. To ensure this, telecoms are enabling the self-service option for their users via self-service apps/portals.

Today, customers want their questions to be answered and problems to be resolved in one go. Most of the customers prefer faster response times. Therefore, self-service portals act as a faster way of providing support to the customers. The self-service app/tool should have original content, proper navigation, correct integration, fast loading speed, etc. to ensure faster responses to customers for which end-to-end software testing of apps should be leveraged.

Though the self-service has taken a front row in usage, still there are certain pain points of telecom app users listed below:

Some of the pain points of telecom application users

• Due to the work from home amid pandemic, telecoms continue to face huge load on their networks which constantly is resulting in server outages, network failures, etc.  that ultimately is annoying customers.

• Incorrectly configured underlying layers of telecom mobile apps are showing software malfunctioning which continues to trouble customers.

• Poor integration with third-party applications such as payment gateways causing transaction-related issues in many telecom apps.

• Customers continue to face issues with an increase in cyber-attacks and frauds across networks thus causing concern to customers data.

• Customers continue to face challenges with the content recommendations displayed as they search for required information on telecom applications.

• In order to overcome all these above-stated challenges, telecoms should leverage software testing to ensure all applications work seamlessly by delivering great CX to users.

Why should telecom companies leverage software testing?

Telecoms should deal with the changing needs of customers for enabling a great customer experience. Today customers avail telecom services via various web and mobile apps to manage their services. To ensure that the customers get high-quality telecom services, the telecom websites, telecom apps, and self-service telecom portals should be end-to-end tested to ensure high-quality apps. Below mentioned are some of the software testing types that telecoms should leverage to ensure high-quality telecom apps:

Conformance testing:

This form of testing helps to determine that the process, product, or service complies with the requirements of a specification, technical standard, contract, or regulation. It helps the telecoms in determining the electrical interface compatibility, conformance of the transport layers, conformance of protocols, etc.

IVR testing:

Interactive Voice Response Testing (IVR) is a software testing type that helps telecom service providers to check the functionality of customer call support systems.

Integration testing:

Integration testing is necessary for the telecom service providers as it helps to determine whether all the software modules in the mobile apps are well connected and working fine for various scenarios.

Interoperability testing:

Interoperability testing helps in verifying that the devices developed by multiple manufacturers are interacting with other software and equipment seamlessly

Performance testing:

Performance testing helps to determine the performance of telecom apps and software to ensure that only high performing apps are released into the market.

Security testing:

Security testing helps to find vulnerabilities and security issues in telecom apps. To prevent apps from rampant cyberattacks, telecoms should leverage security testing of their apps.

End-to-end digital testing:

It is important to leverage end-to-end digital testing which consists of usability testing, security testing, accessibility testing, performance testing, etc. to ensure the mobile app delivers a great customer experience.

Protocol testing:

In telecommunications, there are various types of protocols such as transmission control protocol, file transfer protocol, simple mail transfer protocol, hypertext transfer protocol, etc. These protocols contain a set of rules which must be followed properly when two connections communicate with each other and thus, these protocols need effective testing for their proper functioning.

Automation testing:

Telcom apps are prone to frequent changes such as addition or removal of certain features, GUI changes, etc. Every time a change is made, telecoms apps need to be tested thoroughly. Automation testing technique helps telecoms to reduce regression cost, quicken up the testing process, make the product reliable, and allows testing on multiple platforms.

Cloud migration testing:

Telecoms deals with important customer data and every second huge load of data are migrated to the cloud. Effective data and cloud migration testing is needed to ensure successful, safe, and secure migration of data over the cloud.

Conclusion

Telecom service providers are a major source of communication enablers across the globe. To give customers an unmatched experience, telecoms need to bring in new-age technologies and self-service portals to ensure seamless services to users. But today, telecoms are facing issues in delivering a great CX with their web and mobile apps and also with the self-service portals. Hence, telecom companies must leverage end-to-end software testing and digital testing services to ensure they deliver high quality, next-gen telecom apps that deliver an unmatched CX to the users.

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Major Mobile Testing Practices CXOs Must Adopt

The post Major Mobile Testing Practices CXOs Must Adopt (Infographic) first appeared on TestingXperts.

Content 1. What are the benefits of Mobile Testing? 2. Major mobile testing practices CXOs must adopt 2.1 Select right device to perform testing 2.2 Perform early testing and define test scope in detail 2.3 Test on real-devices 2.4 Perform nterface, functional and usability testing 2.5 Adopt performance & security testing for app success 2.6 Automate Mobile Testing Process 2.7 Check for battery consumption 2.8 Test the app for global access 3. Conclusion

Today evidently, there has been a massive explosion of mobile devices running in billions across the globe. For all businesses, a larger extent of their business transactions is done using various mobile applications. Mobile apps usage has taken the world of connectivity to a new range with prominence revolving around customer expectations and customer experience (CX) these apps are supposed to deliver.

This basic and primary need of enchanting customers with great CX has been forcing businesses to deep dive themselves and ensure they deliver effective CX for their mobile apps along with ensuring seamless business transactions.

Today’s customers expect a fast and flawless mobile app experience while they interact either with the business applications. To ensure and deliver great CX, organizations and businesses CXOs should adopt and leverage mobile testing to get flawless mobile apps. Basically, mobile application testing forms an integral part of the mobile app development and has to be taken up by mobile testing experts by following some of the best mobile testing practices.

By following effective and best mobile application testing, businesses can eliminate a huge number of potential issues and bugs that the mobile apps might face when it goes into the market. Specifically, there are many benefits businesses get by leveraging effective mobile testing practices.

What are the benefits of Mobile Testing?

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– Mobile app testing helps primarily to improve the mobile app quality

– Apps will be scalable and accessible across multiple platforms

– As apps are tested for functionality, usability and consistency, apps released into market will be of high-quality and users prefer such apps

– Successful mobile testing ensures mobile apps function well even when numerous users login at the same time without affecting app performance

– As effective testing is taken up, businesses can be ensured of seamless app usability when users interact with them

– With effective mobile testing, flawless and high-performing mobile apps tend to get more users and ensures increased app downloads

– As end-to-end network compatibility testing is done, any interruptions will be overcome and the app performs seamlessly across networks

– Mobile accessibility testing ensures the mobile app is accessible to users of all types, even for differently abled people

– Automated testing ensures efficient testing as it ensures speed, accuracy, repeatability and code reusability to deliver high-performing mobile apps

Businesses get numerous advantages by leveraging mobile application testing and primarily the CXOs should ensure their mobile app testers follow the below given best practices for mobile testing to leverage the above-mentioned business benefits.

Major mobile testing practices CXOs must adopt

1. Select right device to perform testing:

A proper device for mobile testing should be considered and selected based on various factors which includes consideration of the mobile app usage across tablets or smartphones, and enlisting the target audience usage of the popular mobile devices. This list should also consider what are the likely screen sizes and OS versions the mobile app needs to integrate for satisfying the target audience.

2. Perform early testing and define test scope in detail:

It is essential that the mobile testing process should begin right from the beginning of the development process. A proper testing strategy should be taken up and ensured that it is followed.

Mobile testing should be taken up along with development side by side at every stage of the app development to help identify bugs and correct them at early stages such that costs are reduced. If the bugs are identified at the production stage, then lot of time and cost will be involved to rectify such errors and bugs.

3. Test on real-devices:

Though testing on emulators and simulators is helpful and useful for mobile testing, but it is equally important to test the app on real mobile devices. This sort of real mobile devices testing ensures the test results are delivered in real-time which becomes very effective for the mobile app success.

4. Perform Interface, Functional and Usability testing:

Interface testing is essential to check validation of buttons, text inputs, screen validations, navigation validations, device orientation validations, etc. Functional testing is essential to test your app on the most popular devices used by the target audience and make sure all the specifications as mentioned in the requirements document are met.

It is essential to test for all functionalities across the app to identify any minute functionality errors to restrict them, before the app is actually moved to production.

Essentially, the usability testing on the mobile app should be taken up by first time app users to get a first-hand understanding about the app for which baby boomers and other older generation segment of people can be selected.

The mobile app thus developed should be user friendly, and should have intuitive user interface which delivers great user experience to users with simple navigation flows. This leads to the desired mobile app success as it deliver great usability.

5. Adopt performance & security testing for app success:

Today’s users prefer mobile apps that load instantaneously for which performance or load testing is critical to be taken up. Various sections of memory leaks, images size requirements, speed, reliability, scalability of the app under loads is all tested.

This sort of load testing ensures the app performs well even when many users access it or login and they will be able to perform all app activities seamlessly.

Security feature is an utmost necessity today with rampant cyber-attacks being experienced everywhere. The mobile apps should be tested for any sensitive data that is being sent or received which must be encoded.

Effective security testing should be taken up to ensure that the app is free from threats and vulnerabilities. Such Effective security testing effective security testing ensures safe and secure mobile app transactions.

6. Automate mobile testing process:

It is preferred to automate your mobile performance, security and functional testing to save time and costs. Automation with mobile testing tools ensures speed, accuracy and code reusability to quickly re-test various conditions. There are various mobile testing tools that can be leveraged to perform effective mobile automation.

7. Check for battery consumption:

It is a priority to maintain and ensure that the battery consumption should be lowest while using the mobile app. It is very important for testing teams to ensure that the app is designed in such a way that it keeps the processor busy for short time. Today, battery consumption is an important feature which people consider while buying smartphones and this aspect should be kept in mind while testing the mobile app.

8. Test the app for global access:

The app should ensure adoption by global users and hence should be tested across geographies to ensure its success. The mobile app should support different languages and currencies to ensure global audience can use it and hence has to be tested thoroughly.

Typically, testing mobile apps is not an easy task, and the landscape of testing keeps on changing. However, the above defined best mobile testing principles continue to remain there and CXOs should ensure their team concentrate on these practices for business success with effective and high-performing mobile apps.

Therefore, a well-defined mobile test design and strategy is essential along with selecting proper devices for testing which the CXOs and testing team should follow to get best mobile testing results. Though, emulators and simulators can be used for testing however to test on real devices is essential for effective mobile testing. Mobile testing has to be continuous and make sure you do performance and load testing in production to get seamless app performance.

It is also essential to automate mobile app testing and use a combination of mobile automation testing tools to achieve effective test results. Thus, the proper combination of the right principles and right set of mobile test automation tools will ensure your mobile apps are a true success and will delight your end users.

Conclusion

The number of mobile devices has exploded in the recent years and for businesses across domains, and these mobile apps have been the major mode of conducting their business. It is essential that these mobile apps should perform flawlessly and seamlessly to ensure end users enjoy and cherish using them.

Only those mobile apps that perform well are accepted by end users for which effective end-to-end mobile app testing is essential. There are many benefits businesses get by leveraging mobile application testing. But, while performing mobile testing, there are certain best practices CXOs should ensure their team follow to ensure their businesses get the best tested mobile apps.

Leverage next-gen mobile testing services provider to ensure you get the best and high-performing mobile apps to get your business have an edge over competitors

The post 8 Best Mobile Testing Practices Enterprise CXOs Should Know first appeared on TestingXperts.

5 Min Read – 

Strong digital presence and real-time engagement with customers is the need for many companies across all industries. According to a report by Statista, as of 2018, global mobile population is accounted for 3.7 billion unique mobile internet users.

Contents 1. Mobile Test Automation 2. Best Practices in Mobile Test Automation 2.1 Matured Automation Strategy 2.2 New Device Models and New Releases Testing 2.3 Increasing Test Coverage Over Time with Automation 2.4 Keeping Up with an “Aggressively Tight” Release Schedules 2.5 Leveraging IP-Led Tools & Continuous Testing Innovation

It means, mobile applications are one of the fastest and reliable ways for these companies to rely on, to have a strong digital presence and interact with the end-users effortlessly. Mobile applications are getting highly interactive and innovative, and require frequent updates to keep users engaged.

Being able to ensure quality of mobile application updates for the end users keeps enterprises’ digital façade robust and trustworthy. To achieve this, Continuous Testing and Continuous Deployment are essential.

Mobile Test Automation

Mobile Test Automation, being critical in the Continuous Development and Testing cycle, helps elevate the digital agility of the enterprises. However, it also comes with quite a significant number of challenges. Luckily, strategizing Mobile Automation Testing not just ensures a flawless mobile experience and secure sensitive mobile data, but also helps bring down the manual testing efforts and speed up the testing cycles.

Best Practices in Mobile Test Automation

Matured Automation Strategy

To automate every type of Mobile Functional Test Case is undeniably not possible, not required too. What to automate depends on the test automation tool selection, the type of mobile application, the criticality of use cases and of course, automation feasibility. Having a matured-tools strategy plus a clear understanding of ROI on the tools selected makes an enterprise automation journey hassle-free. TestingXperts’ accelerators and ready-to-deploy test automation framework help you achieve a matured test automation solution along with an accelerated set up.

New Device Models and New Releases Testing

With the launch of newer devices of varying configurations and operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows) upgrades, most organizations face challenges with optimization of testing effort. With test automation, continuous innovation and customized automation strategy, organizations can test their releases across as many devices, operating systems, platforms and combinations as possible.

Increasing Test Coverage Over Time with Automation

The need for enhanced test coverage is something that an organization can’t afford to overlook. Ensure to select testing solution and platform that gives highest test coverage, so that every issue in an app is addressed.

In this, also consider test for emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Chatbots, Virtual Reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data Testing, and more integrated into your mobile application.

Keeping Up with an “Aggressively Tight” Release Schedules

Since mobile application goes through constant updates for a better user experience, release cycles get shorter and tougher. The solution is to automate testing as much as possible to adapt to some of the common requirements, such as constant feature updates to improve User Experience (UX), shorten testing cycles, continuous delivery and deployment, and to write a stable code and integrate into the given framework.

Leveraging IP-Led Tools & Continuous Testing Innovation

To ensure almost zero defects and to ensure highest test coverage and mobile app’ quality, organizations need to create customized solutions and innovate continuously to keep pace with the market trends. The teams need to imagine and identify newer ways to test faster and more effectively and leverage the latest software testing solutions.

Are you looking for a QA team with strong expertise in testing various mobile applications, be it web, native or hybrid?

The post Automation to Assist Mobile Testing – Best Practices You Can’t Afford to Miss! first appeared on TestingXperts.

Today’s fast-paced technology-centric world presents opportunities and threats at every turn. It has become challenging to practice agile development no matter how big or small an organization you are. To become sustainable in this disruptive environment, agility is key.

Here are the 6 keys to build business agility.

The post 6 Keys to Build Business Agility- Infographic first appeared on TestingXperts.

Mobile is undoubtedly the biggest medium to reach consumers and the credit for this revolution goes to the arrival of smartphones. Smartphones have brought businesses with unprecedented access to their consumer base by introducing consumer friendly mobile applications and organizations are slowly moving towards digitizing most of their user touch points.

Contents 1. Appium: Coss-platform Solution for Mobile Test Automation 2. Why Appium? 3. Things to be aware of? 4. Conclusion

There is a stiff competition between organizations to be the first one to offer new functions and features to consumers and this requires fast-paced IT efforts at their end. This is further complicated due to consumers using different devices and platforms access the mobile apps. So, in order to be deliver apps faster and to all your consumers, it is important that organizations deploy test automation solutions which can work swiftly across all platforms.

Appium: Coss-platform Solution for Mobile Test Automation

Appium is an open-source, cross-platform, mobile app automation testing using appium tool to automate testing for hybrid, native, and mobile web applications. Appium has become one of the best test automation solutions for mobile apps and games. It is an open-source test automation framework that supports iOS and Android on real devices as well as emulators and simulators. Unlike a lot of other mobile test automation tools, Appium doesn’t require the application to be re-compiled with an extra agent.

This ensures your app doesn’t change while testing and you can be more confident of the testing being done. It enables you to script your test cases in multiple languages including Java, Ruby, C#, etc. and gives you the flexibility to design your framework accordingly.

Why Appium?

• The main advantage of Appium is that the complexities are taken under the hood by the Appium server. The whole experience for the automation developer would remain the same irrespective of the platform he uses (Android or iOS).

• Appium helps in opening the doors to cross-platform mobile testing, which helps in working on multiple platforms. Also enables re-usability of automation code across iOS and Android

• It has the ability to automate hybrid, web and native mobile applications.

• Unlike other tools, Appium does not necessitate in including extra agents in your application to make it automation friendly.

• Helps you keep automation costs low since it is open source

Things to be aware of?

• Appium does not support Android mobile devices with a version lower than 4.2

• Speed of execution is slow when testing for iOS on real devices

• It may be difficult to test iOS apps on the local server as Appium only trusts OS X libraries to support iOS testing

Conclusion

TestingXperts’ advanced mobile test lab uses the modern and best in mobile testing to bring you better quality and quicker time-to-market.

With our ready Appium automation framework, Tx-Automate’ we can get you started with test automation quickly. Reach out to us, and we will be pleased to help you with the right mobile app testing strategy.

Stay tuned for more on mobile application automation tools……

The post Mobile App Automation: How Appium can add Value to your Application first appeared on TestingXperts.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has had the worst debut that any smartphone has experienced in recent times. Samsung launched its new phone (a worthy successor to the Note legacy) with the same excitement and expectations but the battery issue seems to have given sleepless nights to Samsung. Alas! The Korean tech giant had to experience the embarrassment of having to recall and replace all the phones they sold.

Samsung Note 7 Battery Disaster

While the confirmed faults of the Galaxy Note 7 are few, Samsung is still erring on the side of caution. However, this has turned out to be a corporate disaster for Samsung. The Galaxy Note 7 was expected to be star device that would have lead the company’s sales during the upcoming holiday season. This device was expected to compete and stand up to the iPhone 7 in comparison tests. The Galaxy Note 7 is not the only gadget to catch fire all thanks to the lithium battery, which have distressed gadgets from iPhones to cars like Tesla. If anything is to be blamed, it’s chemistry as the batteries that we rely on everyday life is prone to leaking and causing damage if exposed to excessive heat. This is because lithium-ion batteries store a lot of energy in a little space. Samsung has not yet revealed the exact cause that led to the recall of around 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7. Regardless of the cause, everyone in the world is going to remember a simple fact that Samsung phones explode!

#Samsung #Note 7 Battery Disaster Goes Beyond Imagination- Will #Mobile #Testing Help? Read more https://t.co/dVWerFV9br

— TestingXperts (@TestingXperts) October 18, 2016

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